I had the whole of Bewl Water all to myself fly fishing.

I finished all I could do on my garden fencing project around noon so I decided to treat myself to a bit of piscatorial R & R! None of my pals could make it so was free to choose between Albury or Bewl.  I was pretty sure to catch at Albury but Bewl won because it would be more challenging and a bit cheaper. When I arrived the weather was good, overcast but dry, south westerly breeze and air temperature around 10 C.  Vince Brook, one of the fishery staff kindly stopped for a chat and suggested Bramble Point?  So off I set on  the ten minute walk and arrived to find the water crystal clear with a nice ripple.  Resisting the temptation to wade I kept well back and started casting with a single black woolly bugger gold head fly presented using a 7 weight forward floating line with a twelve foot leader.  On my third cast I was rewarded with a lovely pull that signalled good fish on!  It had hit the fly round two rod lengths off of the rod tip so it was in quite close and I would probably have spooked it if I had been in the water.

Later I did go into the water as there was no more action from the shore, I also tried an intermediate line with the woolly bugger, then a cats whisker and finally a blue flash damsel. I fished for 2 hours, only had the one fish but I loved every minute of it! The sky, the breeze and the water lapping at my waders told me I was very lucky to be there, still able to cast a line and still able to land a fish, the first of 2015.  And to top it all I had the whole of Bewl Water all to myself!

I am pleased to see that I can still pull them out!

Vince had warned me that they lock the exit gates at 4pm this time of year which is why I only fished for 2 hours.  However, as I was leaving Rob Barden told me that if you park down by the Outdoor Centre you can exit from there whenever you like.

Fly Fisherman gets distracted helping job seekers!

I am feeling guilty for not having posted recently, especially to those of you who follow my posts and who have driven the views to over 29,000. Two years ago when I started I was amazed when I registered 100 views.  Well it is true that I was distracted a bit by Christmas and I have been replacing some fencing in the garden, but the main reason is my new (honorary, that means I do it for free) assignment in the church which involves helping people (church members and non members) find work, improve their employment or decide what career path to follow.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has an excellent web site for job and career seekers.  The rather long name of the church is often abbreviated to LDS so the web site is called ldsjobs. So if you are interested and would like to take a look here is what to do:-

1      Use your internet browser to find ldsjobs.org

If    If you are a member of the LDS Church and registered on the church's web system press “Sign In” in the top right hand corner or register.  If you are not a member go straight to the Complete Your Profile box and click on it. You will be able to register as a Friend.  When you have completed the above you will be able to explore the site and take advantage of its resources. There is information and helpful advice for job seekers, students and those wanting to be self employed. The section on writing CVs lists four different types of CV and discusses their various merits.

MOST JOBS ARE FOUND BY NETWORKING

Networking is a fancy term that just means you tell everyone you know (well, nearly everyone, maybe not your current boss and work colleagues) that you are looking for a job as a “such and such” and do they know of any openings or (and this is equally important) do they know of anyone else who might know of job openings!  Doing this you can build a large “network” of people looking for you.  However, it is no good just asking them once.  You have to gently remind them on a regular basis that you are still looking.  Go to ldsjobs.org click on Article Index and then click on Successful Networking.

PERFORMING AT YOUR BEST DURING AN INTERVIEW

When you get the chance of an interview you must not spoil it by being poorly prepared.  Feel free to ask a friend for a “practice interview”, it can give you a realistic experience which can improve your performance at a real interview.  Running practice interviews is one of my roles in the church's programme. For further information and certainly prior to a mock or real interview go to ldsjobs.org click on Article Index and then click on Interviewing and read the articles.

On the employment web site you can find where the church has Employment Centres.  My wife Rosalind and I help out at the centre in the Hyde Park Chapel, Exhibition Road, South Kensington, London on Tuesdays.

If you know of employment opportunities please let us know?